Weed eradicator



Filed March 6, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet l lfllll lll June' Z8, 1927. I F. K CRRICK 1,634,172

WEED ERADICATOR Patented June 28, 1927.

UNITED STATES yW'EED ERADICATOB.

I Application fx1-ed March 6, .1925. Serial No. 18,547. I

The invention relates to improvements in weed eradicators andan object of the invention is to provide an agricultural machine which can be moved over the field behind a plough and will receive the ploughed earth and will effectively separate the weeds from the dirt and will leave the separated weeds lying on top of the soil where they areY eX- posed to the killing effects of the kweather and sun. y l

A further and more particular object is to provide a machine which can be readily hitched to a sulky or gang plough and to which the ploughed earth is fed, ground or surface side up in order toA maintain the weeds at the 'top' and toA construct themachine such that the clods of earth will be broken tovloosen the dirt and'separate out the weeds, the weeds being carried rearward-y ly and the'e'arth dropped down so that the weeds can be dropped on the surface of the soil.

A further Vobject of.the inventionis to construct a machine' so that the separated weeds can be collected and dropped in windrows thereby facilitating the subsequent gathering of'them.

A further o'bfect xis to construct a machine so that it can lbeadjusted in respect to the ground and in relation to the ploughed furrow.

A further object is to construct the teeth of the beaters such that the beaters can be changed to accommodate diiferentrtypes of weeds encountered'.

With the above more important and other minor objects in view which will become more apparent as the Vdescription proceeds, the invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the complete machine, as it appears hi-tched to a sulky plough. n

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine and part of the plough.

Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view longitudinally through the machine.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view at -11-4 Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view at 5-5 Figure 3.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the "foot pedal utilized.

In the drawings, like .characters oflreference4 indicate corresponding vparts inthe several figures. c

'The machine as above intimated is drawn by a plough and is herein Vshown as connected to a single furrow `sulky plough. The structural details of a sulky plough are well knownv and accordingly, 'I have only .shown those parts with which my devicel'is immediately associated.

The main frame l of the plough supports the customary rearwardly disposed driver seat '2 and the rear end of the frame is adjustably .supported by the rear furrow wheel YThe plough beam l carries the customary plough but in my particu-lar case, I remove the mould board yof .the plough .and substi tute a plate. 'The ,customary share of thek f plough is shown at`5, the upper edge of the share being indicated by the line 6.v The mould board of the plough as is well known turns .the earth cut by the plougln'lrolling it overtmo put the soil or sod ,surface under and I Wish here, however, to point out that I .do not desire the ploughed earth to be rturned over as rI` requirey 'to deliver the ploughed earth top or soil lside up to my machine. With this object invew, I remove the plough mould board `as before stated :and substitute a plate 7 to the rear edge of which Isecurea. plurality of spaced fingers 8 which f gather .the earth ploughed by the plough and deliver it top :side .up to the front end of my machine. The .machine comprises parts hereinafter described. f

A suitably constructed engine platform 9 is provided, this being horizontal Vand locat-` ed Iat the land .side of the vmachine :and being y i site 'to and at some distance ,from the legs.

To the legs 17, I secure an upwardly and rearwardly inclining` pair of beams 20 and 21 which form bearings for cross shafts later described. j

Above and below the beams, l locate side boa-rds 22 and 23 which are flush with the inner faces of Ythe beamsk and-which form with the beams a vertical side wall at the latform side of the machine. These side `boards are fastened through filler strips 22 and 23 to the legs 17. "A further pair of beams 24 and 25 are located directly Voppow site the beams 2() and 2l and are secured permanently to the lower endsy of the hangers 19. A side board 26 is. located above' the beam 24 and a filler strip 26 is placed be tween the side board and the hangers and theside board 26 is secured to the hangers through the filler strips. rlhis side board 26 forms a vertical wall spaced from and ydirectly opposing` the'othcr wall hereinbeforc nientione i Opposing horizontally disposed outwardly extending standards 27 and28 are secured to the side wall of th'e'machine remote from. the platform and thesel standards provide bearings for a vertically .disposed spindle 29, the lower end of which is provided with swivelled land wheel 30. rlhe shaft is provided with adjusting openings 8l and the bearings carry adjusting screws 81 adapted to enter the openings, this arrangement permittingof the adjustment of that side of the machine. Obviously the wheel 30 supports one side of the machine and those 10 and 11 support theothe'r side.

The pairs of side beams support a plurality of similar equi-spaced cross shafts 32, there being six cross shafts shown yin the present instance. Starting from the front end of the machine, the first, third and fifth cross shafts form a set and this set of' shafts is driven at a slower speed than the other set which comprisesL the remaining cross shafts. The engine pulley 14 is connected by a belt 88 to a driving pulley 34 secured to the platform end of the rear .shaft 32, it being here observedthat the ypulley 34 is much larger than that 14.

To the rearmost cross'shaft'32, I secure also a chain wheel 35 and it is connected by an endless chain 36 to similar chain wheels secured to the adjacent ends of the second and fourth cross shafts, 'the 'arrangement being such that thecross shafts of this set are all driven in the samer direction and at the same .speed bythe chain 36. rlhe ends of the first, third and fifth cross shafts remote from the platform are all fitted with similar chain wheels 37, somewhat larger than those 35 and the chain wheels 37 areall simultaneouslyl driven'at the same speed and in the saine direction by a continuous chain 38 which is driven by a chain wheel 39 secured to the rearmost cross'shaft'at the end remote from the platform. Suitable chain tighteners 40 are provided. When the engine is started the cross shafts are all rorated inltlie saine direction as indicated by the applied arrow in Figure 3 and the sets of cross.. shafts are driven at different speeds, the first, third and fifth shafts rotating slower than the remaining ones.

@n.all the cross shafts, I locate similarV beaters 4l which are separated by rollers 42, the .beaters rotating with the cross shafts.

Each beater presents a plurality of teeth 43" an angular position in respect to the beatersv by similar spring bars 45Y and 46, the spring` bars having their forward ends permanently 'fastened to the forward bracket l5 and their rear ends slidably suspended from the rear bracket 16 by straps 47. The under side of the plate carries arresters 4S which in the present instance areI shown as angle bars, Abolted tothe plate and crossing the same. lin angle bracket 49 is secured to each side wall of the machine and limits the lowermost position of the rear end of the plate.

Brace bars 50 extend between the rear ends of the beams 20 and 24. A cross shaft- 5l lunderlies the rearmost cross shaft and is pivotally supported by the side boardy 22 and al bearing 52 secured to the beam 24. This cross shaft 5l carries gathering forks 53 suitablyspaced which are adapted to gather the weeds deposited from the rear beaters. 'lhe innerend of the shaft 5l is provided with ya crank 54 which is connected by a rod 55 to a bell crank 56 pivotally attached to the plough frame. rlhe bell crank is supplied with a foot pedal 57 and the arrangement is such that` when the foot pedal is tripped forwardly, the forward end of the'bell crank moves downto ,bring the pivot point 58 of the bell 'crank to the frame above the pivot point 59 connecting the forward end of the rod to the bell crank. rlhe forks are accordingly locked in their up position and it is only necessary for the driver to kick the foot pedal rearwardly in order to. unlock the prongs and' cause the weeds to be dropped on the ground surface.

The machine is hitched to the plough frame in any suitable manner which will permit of it being adjusted and will also maintain the machine in more or less fixed relation in respect to the plough. llhis is done in the present instance, by securing to the rear end of the plough frame a pair Vof similar vertically disposed links 60 which provide runways for 1 rollers 61 carried by the forward ends of pair-stof draw bars 62V and G3, the rear ends of which are per- 'nianently bolted to the engine platform. u

the earth ploughed by the plough will be delivered over the plate 7 and fingers 8 to the beaters of the front cross shaft 32and here it is again pointed out that the earth is delivered to these beaters with the top or soil side up. The strip or clods of earth so delivered are caught by the teeth of the front beaters and passed rearwardly to the next beaters which are moving faster than the front beaters and this transfer of the earth from one set of beaters to the other is continued from the front to the back of the machine. rlhe earth is held down against the beaters by the pressure plate la and the weeds are prevented from winding aroundy the shaft 32 by the rollers 4Q. The action of the sets of beaters revolving in the direction indicated and at di'erent speeds is suoli that as the clods of earth move back, the soil is loosened from the weed roots and falls down onto the ground beneath the machine whilst the weed roots are transferred from beater teeth to beater teeth and are finally discharged onto the forks 53. rlhe attendant can dump the collected weed roots from the forks when he desires and would naturally dump them so as they would lie in windrows on the field so that they could be conveniently subsequently collected and burned. The pressure plate is inclined as shown so that it will exert a down pressure on the passing material and hold it to the beaters, although it will be observed that the springs allow the plate to accommodate itself to the passing clods.

Whilst have entered into a detailed description of the various parts of the machine, it will be readily understood that the structural details thereof could be readily modified without departing fromvthe spirit of the invention which requires that the ploughed earth be transmitted to the beaters surface or sod side up and that it be worked by the beaters to separate the dirt from the weed roots and permit the dirt to fall down and the weed roots to be passed rearwardly where they can be subsequently directly deposited on the ground surface or on gatherinO' forks as herein shown.

lhe fingers 8 function not only to transmit ploughed earth ,to my machine but they also allow stones and other solid material to escape before the earth reaches the machine so that there is no possibility of the machine being damaged by them.

What l claim as my invention is l. A portable weed eradicating machine comprising a platform, an engine mounted thereon, opposing suitably supported spa-cedside walls positioned to one side of the platform, a set of spaced cross shafts rotatably carried by the side Walls and extending there between, a further set of similar cross shafts alternated between the former shafts and rotatably mounted in the side walls, a driving connection between thel engine shaft and one of the cross shafts, a dr-iving connection between the latter cross shaft and the remaining cross shafts ofthe set containing it whereby the cross` shafts of that set are rotated in the same direction and at the same speed, a driving connection between the said cross shaft and the cross shafts of the other set whereby the latter set of cross shafts are rotated in the same direction and comprising a platform, an engine mounted on the platform, opposing spaced side walls situated at one side of the platform, a set of spaced cross shafts extending between the side walls and rotatably carried thereby, a further set of cross shafts similarly mounted and alternated with the first set, a driving f connection between the rearmost cross shaft and the engine, a driving connection between the rearmost cross shaft and the remaining shafts of the set containing it, a driving connection between the rearmost cross shaft and the shafts of the other set, said driving connections being arranged such that all the shafts are rotating in the same direction and the sets ofV Vshafts at different speeds, outstandinm teeth secured to the shafts, the teeth or adjacent shafts being alternated and lapped, a pressure plate yieldingly sup-- ported above the teeth and means for passing ploughed earth to the foremost teeth of the machine and with the top side of the ploughed earth uppermost.

3. A portable weed eradicating machine comprising a platform, an engine mounted ynections being arranged 'such that all the earth 'to the foremostteeth of the machine 10 shafts are rotating in the same direction and and with the top-side of the ploughed earth the sets ot' shafts at different speeds, ontuppermost, and dumpable collecting prongs standing teeth secured to the shafts, the teeth located at theV rear end of the machine and of adjacent shafts being` alternated and adapted to receive the Weed roots discharged" lapped, rollers mounted on the Cross shafts from the rearmost teeth. 15 and interposed between the teeth there-2f, a Signed at Tinnipeg this 29th day of pressure plate yieldingly supported above December 1924. f

`the teeth and means for passing ploughed FRANKLIN KING-CARRICK. 

